Source (AFP)
Party at the Olympique Lyonnais at the age of 9, then to Real Madrid a decade later, the Blues striker Karim Benzema has not cut himself off from his roots and his district of Terraillon in Bron, often returning playing with his teenage friends.
Even beyond the city of Bron, a municipality of 40,000 inhabitants of the eastern suburbs of Lyon, it is above all the pride of this reputedly difficult district, classified in 2012 as a priority safety zone (ZSP).
“He was 13 or 14 years old and every day he was at the stadium. He was with his ball, kicking against a wall, he was controlling, he was kicking. Everything in the controls and the passes”, remembers Tahar Ounnas, current president of the Sporting Club Bron Terraillon (SCBT).
However, the fate of Karim Benzema, who lived with his parents in a building located close to the Léo-Lagrange stadium, could have changed before it all began.
– Two goals against OL –
Aged 8, he came with his father to join the club but, due to lack of space, he was initially refused before several people from his family circle intervened, with success.
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“The rest, he owes it only to himself and he is recognized worldwide today”, rejoices Mr. Ounnas, “happy to see him again in the France team” while the striker should know his first selection after a long eclipse of more than five years, Wednesday in a preparatory match for the Euro against Wales in Nice.
But the one who would become “KB9”, spearhead of the attack of the prestigious Real Madrid, played only one season at Sporting Club.
“During a match against OL in U9, Karim had scored two goals. This is how he was spotted and, at the start of the following school year, he was at Olympique Lyonnais”, recalls the president. of the club.
Today, if the Benzema family remains attached to the district where Karim is still worshiped, his parents now live in the center of Bron.
“When he comes to Lyon, he goes to the Terraillon, sees his friends, his friends. He takes his turn, goes to restaurants in Bron, plays a little football. There is excitement when he is stopped at the traffic lights. red. It’s a bit complicated, anyway, “says one of his brothers-in-law, Samir, who runs a pizzeria.
– “Normal, simple and generous” –
“He remained a normal person, very simple. We do not realize the notoriety he can have, nor his generosity, always very discreet”, underlines Samir.
“He brings together several generations around his personality but, towards the youngest, he is not stingy with advice, making them understand that nothing can be achieved without effort”, he adds.
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“He comes back very often. His family is very established”, reports for his part, the mayor Jérémy Bréaud (LR) who has, in his office, a Real Madrid jersey signed by KB9 and delivered by one of his in-laws. brothers.
“Karim is above all a child of Terraillon, a district with a strong identity. He has remained very linked to his city”, confides the city councilor, who has never yet met the footballer but who “knows members of his family and (a) married one of her sisters a few months ago “.
Like what was done in Marseille for Zinédine Zidane, a fresco project, private, at Terraillon or nearby, is currently under study. Its genesis took shape three or four months ago, before the announcement of his return to the France team.
But the city, which should support this initiative logistically, also has for its part the idea of a work intended to highlight more generally the personalities from the municipality.
And if Karim Benzema and his teammates were to win the Euro, Mr. Bréaud and his teams intend to organize, depending on the lifting of the health restrictions still in force, festivities to celebrate the event.
© 2021 AFP
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